Stephania abyssinica is a herbaceous vine with a woody base and a stem covered with a thin bark. The slender branches are either smooth or hairy when they are still young. The leaf shape is rounded at the base and tips, with a leaf blade of 50-200 x 40-130 mm. The leaf texture is smooth and papery and the leaves are slightly discolored. The leaves are palmately veined with 8-10 basal nerves The petiole is 40-120 mm long and is attached on the underside of the leaf. Male and female flowers are unisexual, on separate plants (dioecious), small and inconspicuous. Male flowers have 6 to 8 sepals that measure 1.2 to 2.5 x 0.6 to 1.2 mm, they are 0.8-1.2 mm long, purplish with a violet base. Female flowers have 3-4 sepals. Fruits are drupes, subspherical and flattened, 5-8 mm in width, smooth, dull orange when ripe. Flowers are produced from spring until early autumn (September to April).

Two varieties are recognized: var. abyssinica with branchlets petioles, abaxial leaf surface and sepals that are hairless and var. tomentella in which they are densely pubescent to tomentose.